hi all,
ive had all my interviews and when i talk to my recruiter he seems like a genuine bloke who is interested in moving my application forward, but ive been told twice now that ill be booked in for selection and then heard nothing .and im pretty sure i havent come across as a bit of a mong, but when you add on all the time spent trying to get past the medical and adsc losing my forms and such, its been 16 months since i first applied and ive yet to even get to adsc, so its starting to feel like im being mucked about a bit. To join the army is a massive thing for me, which is why ived persevered for this long, but so far ive effectively wasted a year and a half of my life waiting around for things to move forward. Its geting to the point now where i am thinking i am being given the run around and just wondered if anone else had any knowledge on the state of recruiting at the moment? or wether or not the cuts in manpower are affecting recruitment?

When I first read the the title, my initial thought was, ''oh here we go, another, 'I've been waiting a month and no start date wah wah wah'. But upon reading it I think you have a valid point cause 16 months waiting before even getting to ADSC is a very long time. I mean when I start basic in june I'll have been in the process for 19 months but that includes a 3 months deferral at the very start of my app.

Have you been deferred for anything medical etc at all? Just seems 16 months with almost no progress is ridiculous. I mean, my recruiter has been calling me all the time to check i'm still alive and to offer me jobs that had come up.

I doubt you've made a bad impression because otherwise they would just cancel your application and tell you to flog off.

OK Im answering in here rather than IMing back.....16 months is not a long time and if your Recruiter doesn't believe that your going to get a very High B grade or A grade to give you a chance of getting allocated then things can get delayed until YOUR RECRUITER believes you are ready. Lots of applicants believe they are ready to get the best IDST score ever at ADSC but believe me taking an extra few months to gain more confidence, experience, improve fitness etc is well worth the wait and get you higher up on the awaiting allocations list once in. Places are getting harder to get ...if you didnt notice theres a Recession on and massive unemployment meaning more applicants trying to get in with fewer places (many of those applying will not meet the grade). Not knowing the OPs individual case the only people who can answer this are his Recruiter/ Senior Recruiter but if he has passed both those interviews and just awaiting an ADSC date then he will be told as soon as he is loaded as they will of clicked him over and awaiting the date to go on the system...this can take anywhere from a few days to 2-3 weeks as he has already been told......there may be other reasons but all you can do is speak with your own Recruiter rather than getting speculation from here.......I do hope that after all your complaining your going to smash out the highest A grade seen at ADSC, just remember 12 months of that 16 months you were medically deferred which has nothing to do with your Recruiter.....also if you were told in Feb 2011 it was 12 months medical deferrment that has only just finished.

thanks for the reply iron, i should clarify i was initially deffered for a year but appealed and got 3 months instead, the reason it took so long was the time taken to get it appealed and then the selection staff losing my records. i am aware that there are more and more applicants and fewer and fewer places so i know it will affect how long it takes, but the application process can be frustrating.
And i can only apologise if ive come across as a whiner, its just this is what i want to do and so far ive been pretty unlucky so i just want to crack on with it.

I sympathize with the OP, my recruiters were top blokes and seemed to genuinely want to help me forward however the process for me took an exceptionally long time.

They advised a career choice they felt I was suited to and have solid above every step of the way but sadly it wasn't enough.

I attended ADSC and left with a high B grade, which suprised me as there is more meat on a celery stick than on my arms. Recruiters called me in, congratulated me on what they said was a good grade and then suggested I'd get in quicker if I switched my choice to armourer as it was something of a pinch point at that time.

Never did get my call up, 12 or so months later when my medical expired I'd had enough and had to bin it. Total time in the system was just over three years (Caught pneumonia at my first crack at ADSC).

In summary, crack on by all means but be aware that with the grading system your time still may not come and accept that it's not totally in your recruiters hands It would seem.